Barack Obama hails alliance and warns of challenges at turning point for world

Barack Obama paid rich tribute to the bonds between Britain and America
yesterday, hailing the special relationship as more indispensable than ever
as the world approached a turning point following a decade of war and
recession.

Granted the honour of being the first US president to address both Houses of Parliament at Westminster Hall, he recounted a shared history of two countries separated by an ocean but joined by a belief in democracy, justice and freedom.

“Our nations have arrived at a pivotal moment once more,” he said.

Despite the decline of conflict in Iraq, the “reversal of the Taliban’s momentum” in Afghanistan and the stabilisation of the global economy there were fresh challenges that required strong British and American leadership, he said.

Decrying the “fashionable” view that as countries such as China, India and Brazil rise, the established powers must inevitably suffer, he said: “As more nations take on the responsibilities of global leadership, our alliance will remain indispensable to the goal of a century that is more peaceful, more prosperous and more just.”

Demand to hear the first black US president and his famous oratorical skills meant that precedent at Westminster was cast aside. The venue of Parliament’s Royal Gallery, used for Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton, was considered too small. Mr Obama’s arrival before an estimated audience of 1,500 in the cavernous hall was heralded by the State Trumpeters. To his left was the current Government, with past prime ministers Gordon Brown, Tony Blair and Sir John Major sharing the front row with David Cameron and Nick Clegg.

The president was escorted by the Speaker and Lord Speaker with a degree of ceremony that served as a reminder of a difference between the two countries.

But he called British and American shared leadership “the greatest catalyst for global action”, drawing an historical arc from the “beaches of Normandy, to the Balkans to Benghazi” along which both countries had united to protect liberty. “If we fail to meet that responsibility, who would take our place?” Mr Obama asked. “Our action — our leadership — is essential to the cause of human dignity.”

The allied intervention in Libya, he said, showed that “we are different, we embrace a broader responsibility”.

Aides to the president said he had worked particularly hard on the speech, revising it the previous evening in his suite at Buckingham Palace and again during any gaps that could be found in yesterday’s busy schedule.

The beliefs that traverse the Atlantic dated back to the ideals of Magna Carta, the establishment of law courts in the very hall where he spoke and the Bill of Rights, he said.

“Perhaps no one drew greater inspiration from these notions of freedom than your rabble-rousing colonists on the other side of the Atlantic,” he continued, noting that the great charters of British history had profoundly influenced the US Declaration of Independence.

The audience listened intently, but only once broke into applause.

That was when he remarked how the history of both nations proved “it’s possible for the sons and daughters of former colonies to sit here as members of this great Parliament, and for the grandson of a Kenyan who served as a cook in the British Army to stand before you as President of the United States”.

Given the august setting and the weighty subjects at hand, he sprinkled fewer jokes than usual but he opened with a gag: “I’m told the last three speakers here have been the Pope, Her Majesty the Queen, and Nelson Mandela, which is either a very high bar or the beginning of a very funny joke.” Judging by the ovation he received as he made, a long, smiling exit to his waiting limousine, Mr Obama reached that bar.